Washer and/or drier for golf balls or similar articles



G. F. BURG WASHER ND/OR BRIER FOR GOLF BALLS OR SIMILAR ARTICLES FiledDeo. 8. 1950 2 Shees-Sheet' l u 11T nl :i: n Munn lun-mlm mnu mn 4 VF/C7.l

INVENTOR,

` COl/ER F. BURC?.

A TTORNEYS Sept, 13, 1932. G F. EUR@ gf WASHER AND/OR DRIER FOR GOLFBALLS OR SIMILAR ARTICLES Filed Dec. 8, 1950 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 4UINVENTOR.

J6 @Rm/mmv@ A TTORNEYS- Patented Sept. 13, 1932 eRovEn r. crime. orAnnhnoa, MICHIGAN wasnnamvn/on Dama-ron. eoLFBALLsoR SIMILAR ARTICLESApplicationy md. peembe'r e, i930". .'.sral 'No.1 5oo,s'54.

This invention relates to a washerand/or drier for .golf'balls orsimilararticles. Y

l It li'sia n .object of this yinvention to produce a golffballwasherthat 'will thoroughly wash,

t* lclean, and/ordry'agolf ball in one operation. In' the .drawingsvFig. 1 's a topplanviewof the washing fand drying apparatus.

Fig. 2 lisafside `elevationfof the gear end "`of the' machine.

' Figl' isv a section along the line 3 -3 of f 'Fig'. V1. Fig;v forconducting the ball from theI washer to the drier.. y

Fig. 5 is a detail'of the worm.Vv f Fig.` 6 'is a section along theline' 6-6 of Fig. 5(

Referring moreparticularlyto the draw- 20.- ings, it will bese'enthatthe washing and ldryn ing apparatus is mountedin a casing'l,which v Vcasing is preferablyLa casting although` it may f i' be made.'.from any suitableI material... 'The casingin crosslsection (Fig. 3,)'isS-'shaped with ai compartment r2 en one-sid'e which is arranged'toreceive the washing solution- 3 L and the washing apparatus which 4willbere- Aferredito laterl The casing 1 likewise hasa compartment t whichisipreferably closedat paratus. y

In the washing of a golf `ballor a similar article it isessential 'thatthe washing or i 'scrubbingapparatus' come in contact with the entiresurface of the ballifthe same v is to be thoroughly cleaned. Toy achievethis the washingapparatu's is arranged to simultaneously clean andmovethe golfball'in such a "4Q-manner. that 4it does 4not Vrotate abouta constantand definite axis', therefore the entire surface ofthe golfball willbe reached by the Washingfapparatus and washing solution.

v Th'isis achieved by Vmeans of a pair of washl ying brushes v5 and 6anda worm 7. The f- .brushesf and '6 are mounted upon; the shafts 8and-.9, the endsfof-which are journaled in' theend wallsof thecompartment 2. The rotary brushes 5 and 6 are preferably made downwardlyinto engagement with the 1'Worm17.

4 is an end elevation showing the meansv 13. Thegears 12 and 13 mesh asat 14 and which 'are'fiXed Vateaclf'endin an end ofthe V ing apparatusin .order to permit the proper from a high grade of bristle and rotatein guide;24; whichdirects theballf16through the opposite directions,that is, the brush 6 ro; l tate's-counterclockwise and the brush 5clockwiseso that the'vball lat all times is 4urged The worm 7journaledin to the .end walls' i of the compartment-2 so that its aXisisparallel to the axis of rotation of the two washing brushes' and 6. vTheworm V7l has nonrotatively mounted on the end thereof the 150 drivinggear 10 and the crank handle 11. The shaftsy 8 and `Q of'the scrubbingbrushes ylikewise are 'provided with suitable gears 12 and the-shaft9also hasmountedA on the end therelof the pinion 15 which meshes with themain To keep-'theball 16 in a path 'between the two washi-n'gbr'ushes 5and-'6, a-suitable guide is'providedfwhifc'h preferably is in theform ofa pair ofparallel guidefrails 17` and '18 compartment 2. These guiderails 17 and 18, as nicely brought out in Fig. 3, are located slightlyabove'the Worm`7 circumferentially A' y y"ofthe brushes 5 and 6 andparallel to the'aXes ""30 the top and opened tothe atmosphere'at the f'bottom in which is mounted thedrying. ap-

' which isprovided with the hole 20 in which thegolf balls 16 areinitially fed to clean and dry kthe same.

ofthe brushes'and the Worm. The comparti ment 2 is provided with asuitable vcover 19 The golf'ball 16 is carriedfrom theiopen- 8 ing K20by4means vof thev helical groove in the worm 7 to the opposite'end ofthecompart- 'ment'2 where it passes out of t-he end of the compartment 2through the opening 21 onto s@ an inclined chute' 22 which conveystheball tothe openingf23 inthe end of the drying compartment 4. The dryingapparatusis situated slightly below thelevelofthe washincline of thechute 22 so lthat the .ball may .be yproperly delivered 1 from thewashing app aratusto the drying-apparatus. The inclined chute 22 isprovided with an angular aoy opening 23 onto the drying apparatus wormThe worm 25 is likewise journaled in the ends of the compartment 4 andhas a large gear 26 mounted on the end thereof exterior of thecompartment 4. A pair of drying brushes 27 and 28 is arranged in thedrying compartment v4 parallel to each other and to the worm-25. Thebrushes 27 and 28 are mounted on suitable shafts 29 and 30 respectivelywhich are likewise-.journaledfat theirv ends in the ends of thecompartment 4. The

shafts 29 and 30 have mountedthereon the gears 31 and 32. The shaft 30also carriesthe pinion 33. The gear 31 meshes with the gear 13. The gear32 meshes with the gear 31 and the pinion meshes with the. gear 26. Thegear 32 is somewhat smaller than the gear 31 in circumference, hence,the brush 27 rotates ata greater speed than the brush 28. rlhe brush 27rotates in a counter-clockwise direction and the brush 28 in a clockwisedirection. Hence, at all times the drying brushes force the golf balldownwardly upon the worm 25. As viewed in Fig. 2, the pinion 33 rotatesthe gear 26 and associated worm 25 in a direction opposite to that ofthe gear 10 and associated Worm 7. The golf ball 16 is guided along theworm 25 and` between the brushes 27 and 28 by a suitable guide meanssuch asthe guide rails 34 and 35 which are similar to the lguide rails17 and 18 in the washer compartment.

The drying compartment 4 is provided adj acent the far end of the dryingworm with a suitable chute 36 through which the completely washed anddried ball 16 is delivered. The

. end portion of the guide rail 34 which extends across the inner end ofthe discharge chute 36 i is dropped below the top of the worm 25 so thatthe ball, upon reaching the end of the VTo insure complete non-.axialmovement on the part of the golf ball as it is being carried along thehelical groove in the worm so that the entire surface of the ball willbe reached by the washing and drying brushes,

the worms are provided atspaced intervalsy with suitable projections 40.These projections are sufficiently sharp to engage the golf ball fduringthe rotation of the worm to move -the same non-axially. The projections40 'of rotation of the ball is constantly changing during the scrubbingand/or drying operation.

In operation the golf ball is inserted` r washing or Worm 25, can dropinto the discharge chute 36.

level of the washing solution 3 is preferably just below the brushes andslightly over the Ytop of the worm. The rotary action of the worm throwsthe washing solution against the balls. As the ball 16 comes in contactwith each of the series of projections 40 it is turned non-axially, thusenabling the vscrubbing brushes to reach the entire surface of the ball.Upon reaching the end of the worm 7 the `ball passesl through theopening 21 onto the chute 22 which directs the samev through the opening23 into the drying compartment 4 wherey the balll is Vtaken up by thedrying worm 25 and'carried `parallel to, and between, the drying brushes27 and 28 which completely dry the ball. Upon reaching theend of thedrying worm 25 the ball is ejected through the opening 36. It will benoted that this washing and drying operation can be a continuousoperation on a continuously changing series of balls and need not belimited to a single ball per operation. It is understood that this apara-tus can be used either for dgrying or for both washing and drying.Further, the placing of the washing and drying apparatus side by side ismerely a preferable arrangement.r

Froml the above description it is evident thatthere is here produced anovel washing and/or drying device for golf balls or similar articleswhich is essentially characterized in that the ball traverses apredetermined path during the scrubbing and/or `drying operation andduring the traversing of this path is turned about a continuallychanging axis so as to subject'the entire surface of the ball to thecleaning and/or drying operation.

I claim:

A device for cleaning spherical articles such-as golf balls, comprisingin `combination a pair of rotary brushes, a rigid helically groovedworm,fa pair of rigid guides positioned parallel to, and between,.theworm and the brushes for carrying the spherical article along a straightline path between the worm and the brushes, and a plurality ofprojections positioned along the said worm for shifting the axis ofrotation of the ball Vas it travels along the said worm, the saidbrushes being adapted to rotate in opposite direct-ions to urge the saidball downwardly upon the said worm and projections.

In testimony whereof I affix mysignature.

GROVER F. BURG..

